Messenger Day or the Highway

Last week Facebook rolled out Messenger Day– which might look a little familiar as it clones all of Snapchat’s key features.

Most influencers seem to be saying that Snapchat needs to up its game or Facebook will take over (check out Damon Beres’ article), but when you ask around the office it seems that most people will be sticking to Snapchat for their quick photo sending and don’t even use Facebook’s Messenger app, let alone their rather inferior version of Snapchat.

But, maybe that isn’t Facebook’s focus. It seems that they aren’t really attempting to create features that are better than Snapchat’s, but rather they are trying to show people that Stories are everywhere. They are taking away Snapchat’s unique edge by showing people that they can get all their favourite features in one app – be that Facebook or Instagram. Snapchat is no longer the only place you will find Stories, funny filters and disappearing photos – so why bother downloading it?

So far Facebook has been more about networking and connecting with friends, sharing life updates and uploading that photo album from your sister’s wedding. It hasn’t been a place for cheeky content that disappears after it has been seen. With Messenger Day, Facebook is trying to get people to stop using Snapchat by offering them everything Snapchat does and more, all in one app.

Is it goodbye Snapchat and hello Facebook?

Sending your moments over Facebook presents a bit more of a risk as it is open to all your Facebook friends. So even if you are trying to send your photo to an individual rather than adding it to your Day, you run the risk of your Mom or that high school friend you haven’t spoken to in 10 years seeing a photo that you definitely didn’t intend them to see.

There is also a big difference in the type of content you might put on your Facebook Day or even your Instagram Story. These photos are much more manicured and sober than the quick snaps you send with silly filters to make your friends laugh. You still have an image to keep up on Facebook and Instagram so that people are interested in your content, whereas Snapchat allows you to take a break from thinking up great content and just post something quick and funny.

At the end of the day Snapchat does need to come up with some new ideas to stop Facebook from knocking it out of the water, but they really just need to keep their quirky style that Facebook hasn’t managed to master in Messenger Day.